2023-10-16 05:30:12
A decree published this Sunday in the Official Journal recognizes laryngeal and ovarian cancer as occupational diseases, if they are linked to exposure to asbestos.
French people suffering from laryngeal or ovarian cancer due to “inhalation of asbestos dust” can now make a claim for compensation. According to a decree published this Sunday in the Official Journal, these two pathologies have in fact been recognized as occupational illnesses, which should allow patients to benefit from “better possibilities of support”.
The text in question “creates for the general Social Security system a table of occupational diseases, relating to cancers of the larynx and ovary caused by the inhalation of asbestos dust”.
Its entry into force gives the patients concerned the right to “contact their primary health insurance fund” to “obtain recognition of their pathology as an illness of occupational origin” as well as the resulting compensation.
This novelty results from a decision of the Working Conditions Orientation Council (COCT), which itself relied on a survey carried out a year ago by the National Food Safety Agency, of the environment and work (ANSES).
This research concluded that laryngeal and ovarian cancers are “under-reported and under-recognized” when linked to occupational exposure to asbestos. This material, used for several decades of the 20th century in the construction of buildings, is now banned in many countries, including France.
Leading cause of occupational cancers
Its dangerous effects on health are recognized and its link with laryngeal or ovarian cancer has already been proven for several years by various organizations, notably the Institute for Health Surveillance, ancestor of Public Health France, and the International Center for cancer research, linked to the UN.
Health authorities have established that the inhalation of asbestos might cause respiratory cancers responsible for 68,000 to 100,000 deaths in France, from 2009 to 2050. This toxic material has been identified as the second cause of occupational diseases and the first cause cancers of occupational origin.
All forms of asbestos have been banned in the European Union (EU) since 2005, but the substance is still present in millions of buildings and infrastructure, in the form of fibers. Recently, in Rouen (Seine-Maritime), the fire and collapse of two buildings containing asbestos caused concern and led to the closure of a school group, as a precautionary measure.
These residual asbestos fibers are responsible for the deaths of 70,000 people per year in Europe. In total, 78% of occupational cancers recognized in EU member states are directly linked to exposure to this toxic material.
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